Football: Jules Rimet Still Gleaming

[AncalagonTheBlack]

LFC have upped their offer on Domogoj Vida to £20m

Better than Matip?

[Consigliere]

4 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Better than Matip?

Hard to say having only watched him at the WC and a few CL games for Besiktas. I'd say he's better than Klavan though. Signing Vida might mean the end of Klavan. VVD is the undisputed best CB at the club, then you will have 3 experienced players in Lovren, Matip and Vida competing for the 2nd spot which takes some pressure of Joe Gomez who can now be eased in. 

[Mark Antony]

Liverpool won’t sign another CB this summer imo. Fekir or maybe an alternative. Alisson or sticking with our current GK options (kill me)

[A Horse Named Stranger]

20 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Hard to say having only watched him at the WC and a few CL games for Besiktas. I'd say he's better than Klavan though. Signing Vida might mean the end of Klavan. VVD is the undisputed best CB at the club, then you will have 3 experienced players in Lovren, Matip and Vida competing for the 2nd spot which takes some pressure of Joe Gomez who can now be eased in. 

Basically yes, however I think that would point more to Joe Gomez leaving (whether on loan or a permanent deal is the question). Or Klopp wants to change systems with three centrebacks. Which seems to be en vogue atm. If you play with a back four, you don't really need five centrebacks, and that would effectively be Gomez role then.

[ljkeane]

1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

Hard to say having only watched him at the WC and a few CL games for Besiktas. I'd say he's better than Klavan though. 

Do you need better than Klavan for 4th/5th choice defender? I wouldn’t have thought so, not for any significant sum of money anyway. I’m dubious.

[Mark Antony]

1 minute ago, ljkeane said:

Do you need better than Klavan for 4th/5th choice defender? I wouldn’t have thought so, not for any significant sum of money anyway. I’m dubious.

Yeah we don’t need depth in that position. Cant see Klopp buying a CB unless it’s a clear upgrade on Lovren. Which is why I don’t think it will happen this summer. 

[baxus]

5 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

LFC have upped their offer on Domogoj Vida to £20m

Better than Matip?

Vida definitely had a great World Cup but I don't see him knocking VVD out of the lineup and I'm not sure how much of an improvement he'd be over Lovren or Matip. He'd be a great signing for depth, but I'm pretty sure Liverpool can keep their top 3 CBs, get some youngster from the Academy for their 4th/5th option and spend those 20M£ better elsewhere.

It would be fun seeing Vida in Liverpool jersey. He seems like a great guy.

[polishgenius]

15 hours ago, Iskaral Putsch said:

but Morata, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Giroud, Cahill seem like a step too slow

I've seen this said a few times about Fabregas but remember he not only came up at Barcelona but probably the best he's ever played was under Wengerball, before it became a total caricature of itself. Sarri would probably have to make a bit more accomodation for him than for Hamsik in terms of his hustle off the ball, especially since he's no longer a kid, but in possession I think Sarri could get the very best out of him.

[Iskaral Pust]

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

I've seen this said a few times about Fabregas but remember he not only came up at Barcelona but probably the best he's ever played was under Wengerball, before it became a total caricature of itself. Sarri would probably have to make a bit more accomodation for him than for Hamsik in terms of his hustle off the ball, especially since he's no longer a kid, but in possession I think Sarri could get the very best out of him.

Fabregas definitely has the footballing brain, use of space and technical ability, but a Sacchi system requires the MFs to cover a lot of space, like Henderson, Fernandinho, KDB, Silva, Milner, Ox, etc.  If Kante is in the #6 destroyer/cover role, the two MFs ahead of him will be expected to close down opponents quickly and be able to recover a large defensive distance if the opponent beats the press.  Or if Fabregas plays as a play-making #6 with Kante and another pressing in front of him, then Fabregas needs to be able to cover absent FBs/WBs at times.

In the frenetic pace of the PL, it seems like a big ask for Fabregas at this age even if he would have comfortably done it during his Arsenal era.  He is much better suited now to the Chelsea style of recent years where he can pick out forward passes into space for Hazard and Costa, or even a WB bombing on.

[Jordan La Cabra]

Not that I have seen a lot of Jorginho, but I imagined his arrival would make it complicated for Fabregas to start. At his best, Fabregas was an excellent attacking midfielder, who could do just about everything. Since Chelsea signed him, he has transitioned into more of a deep lying playmaker. Remember, his best season for us was in 14/15 when he played alongside Matic in Jose's midfield two. Matic was able to do the defensive work, and from that position alongside Matic, Fabregas was able to control the tempo of the play and pick out long passes over the top - which is essentially what I expect to Jorginho to do, and hopefully Kante stays so that Jorginho can be our deep lying playmaker alongside him. 

Conte didn't favour Fabregas in 16/17 because he preferred to play with two midfielders that were defensively minded but had the energy to get up and down, Kante and Matic. Fabregas featured a lot more in 17/18, but that was because his main rival for the spot in the team, Matic, got sold and we replaced him with Drinkwater, who never seemed to impress Conte. 

Sarri seems to prefer 433, so it won't be quite the same as the Matic-Fabregas partnership. To fill the third midfielder role, I think we need someone who is very different to Jorginho, rather than someone that's become quite like him. I would like to see us keep hold of Loftus-Cheek and give him a go in midfield. He has the legs to go box-to-box, the strength and pace to carry the ball, and the technical ability to pass and shoot. On top of that, we still have Ross Barkley, who, I think, could excel if given a free role in a midfield three. In a way, there are similarities between Barkley and RLC; neither are number tens or wide forwards, but a free role in a three man midfield might be their best position.

[Consigliere]

24 minutes ago, Jordan La Cabra said:

Sarri seems to prefer 433, so it won't be quite the same as the Matic-Fabregas partnership. To fill the third midfielder role, I think we need someone who is very different to Jorginho, rather than someone that's become quite like him. I would like to see us keep hold of Loftus-Cheek and give him a go in midfield. He has the legs to go box-to-box, the strength and pace to carry the ball, and the technical ability to pass and shoot. On top of that, we still have Ross Barkley, who, I think, could excel if given a free role in a midfield three. In a way, there are similarities between Barkley and RLC; neither are number tens or wide forwards, but a free role in a three man midfield might be their best position.

Rumours saying that Chelsea are close to completing a deal for Golovin. 

 

ETA. Romano also reporting that Liverpool have opened talks with Roma for Alisson. 

[Jordan La Cabra]

7 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Rumours saying that Chelsea are close to completing a deal for Golovin. 

Yeah, well, he'd be a good option, too. I think he fits the bill of what I was suggesting we need, in the sense that he can carry the ball well, create chances, score a few goals. Perhaps not as physical as RLC or Barkley would be, though.

[Mark Antony]

37 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

. Romano also reporting that Liverpool have opened talks with Roma for Alisson. 

I’m rationalizing the monstrous fee by looking back at the bargain Salah was. Hope Fekir still happens. 

[Consigliere]

27 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

I’m rationalizing the monstrous fee by looking back at the bargain Salah was. Hope Fekir still happens. 

James Pearce saying that Liverpool's bid is £62m. This backs up what Italian media have been reporting as well (€70m).

[ljkeane]

1 hour ago, Mark Antony said:

I’m rationalizing the monstrous fee by looking back at the bargain Salah was. Hope Fekir still happens. 

Yeah, I'm not entirely convinced that there's value in spending that kind of money on a 'keeper. Let's say Alisson is world class, which isn't guaranteed after one good season for Roma, if our defence remains as good as it was in the second half of last season you're probably only talking about a couple of goals less conceded across the season by getting him. £60 plus million seems like a lot of money to pay for that.

Hopefully we aren't spending that money on a goalkeeper instead of getting Fekir or an alternative attacking player.

 

[Mark Antony]

I think I’d prefer Fekir to Alisson as well if I had to choose but idk even with the concussion it’d be hard for me to trust Karius again. Never want to see Migs suit up for Liverpool again either and Danny Ward is a massive question mark. Klopp stuck to Van Dijk for a massive fee instead of going for alternatives and I was among the ones giving him shit for it. I’ll trust him if it’s Alisson or bust. 

[Consigliere]

Lots of reports saying that Real Madrid and Chelsea have reached an agreement for Courtois. The fee is reported to be around €35m. Also talk that Chelsea will attempt to complete a deal for Alisson before finalising the Courtois transfer.

[Jordan La Cabra]

€35m is pretty cheap for Courtois, but he has year on his contract, clearly wants to leave and has a ‘preferred destination’, so we were never going to get as much as he is truly worth from Real Madrid.

If Liverpool get Alisson, we are left with no obvious target. I’d take Cech back.

[Consigliere]

Those Cech rumours are strange indeed. If Chelsea can't get Alisson, they should go for Cillessen instead. He wants to leave Barca as he isn't going to get much playing time with Ter Stegen there and he's too good a keeper to be sat on the bench. 

[Jordan La Cabra]

I hadn’t even seen the Cech links when I wrote my previous post. He may have regressed at Arsenal, but he never failed us, he’s still loved by the fans and would be a good stop-gap if we fail to get Alisson.

I wonder what Real intend to do with Navas. He can pull off spectacular saves, but my only concern would be how he would fair with the more physical nature of the Premier League. Cech and Courtois were both incredibly strong when it came to claiming crosses and commanding the box.